Next to Me (13 page)

Zane pulled into the dark parking lot and looked over at her. There was maybe one street light shining on the parking lot they were in and it was flickering.

“This feels like how a horror movie starts, Zane,” Lila said, looking behind them.

“I know, but I told you I was going to take you somewhere special, and I meant it. What are you looking for?”

“The guy with the chainsaw to jump out and grab us, of course.”

“Oh, of course.” He rattled some keys and raced around to let her out of the truck.

“You have the keys to the creepy abandoned building? This is getting more romantic by the minute.” She looked behind them again, and he grabbed her hand.

“There’s no chainsaw man, I promise.” He laughed and pulled her toward the dark building. He’d pulled in and parked in the back on purpose, so she couldn’t see the sign in front. It was a surprise, after all. He had one of the guys at work who owed him a favor and the guy’s brother owned the place.

The guy said switching on the lights would turn the whole place on with lights and music if he hit the right switch. The door creaked open, adding to Lila’s nightmare, which secretly made him laugh, and he reached in and turned the lights on.

The whole place lit up with flashing lights and a big disco ball in the middle.
Hooked on a feeling
played over the speakers and all the roller skates were lit up by a big skate now sign.

“Wow, I can’t believe this. How did you get a skating rink to yourself?” Lila’s eyes were wide, and he could tell she was excited.

“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” He pulled her to him and kissed her lightly. “We can skate for a while and then get it on in the arcade.”

“We’ll see how good your skating skills are, sir.” She laughed and let him lead her over to find some skates and watched as she tied the ugly brown things on. They even had the bright orange strings he remembered. He put on his own pair and stood to show her how it was done.

“I can skate backward, and forward, and around you in circles.” He told her as he got out on the slick floor and fell immediately. She stifled a laugh, but he heard the little noise.

“The floor had a slight slant and my skate got caught on it. Why don’t you get out here and show me how it’s done?”

Lila skated over toward him and proceeded to completely blow him out of the water. She effortlessly made her way around the rink a full time while he was trying to stand up.

“I see skating around that roundabout taught you a lot.” He skated toward her and grabbed her hand. “You’re such a showoff, Lila.”

“Zane, you’re going to take me down with you.” She squealed as he did indeed take her down with him. He leaned over her and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her softly at first. He intensified the kiss and left her breathless before pulling back.

“Thank you for being there for me and for Dad. It means so much to me. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.” She kissed him back and stood, pulling him up. “Now race me.”

They raced around the rink a few times. She was way faster than him and could actually skate backward, so she did.

“We have the whole place for the whole night?”

“Yes, we do, just you and me, sweet girl,” Zane said.

He watched as she slowed down her skating in front of him and took her dress off slowly, and he was amazed she didn’t fall over. “Now you,” she told him as she teasingly stuck her fingers in the straps of her bra. He stared for a minute, taking in her beautiful body and the tiny black lace panties she was wearing.

Finally, he realized what she said and took his shirt off. Watching as she sped up and turned around. She unhooked her bra and took it off, throwing it down on the rink. He really hoped there weren’t any cameras that could see what they were doing as he undid his belt and threw it down on the ground as well.

“Oh, big boy taking off your belt.” She shimmied the underwear down, and he was super impressed that she was able to get them off of her skates, lifting one leg and then the other.

“There’s no way I can get my pants off and skate, Lila.”

She laughed and skated in circles around him, skating off toward the DJ booth. She skated back and forth as he approached her and undid his pants. He didn’t pull them down until he was almost to the booth and then he had to scoot toward her with them around his ankles.

“That’s the most attractive thing I’ve ever seen, Zane.” Lila laughed and sat on the side of the plush DJ booth.

He made his way to her, finally coming behind the booth, and pulled his boxers down around his ankles.

“No, you’re the most attractive thing I’ve ever seen.” He was suddenly very serious as he pulled himself to her on the skates so he was between her legs and kissed her. She wrapped her skates around him and pushed her tongue into his mouth, their naked bodies turning him on instantly.

He lifted her and pushed her up against the wall beside the booth, driving inside of her and kissing down her neck. She cried out and tangled her fingers in his hair as he drove into her, miraculously staying up and picking up his pace. She scratched her nails down his back as she came and cried out his name. It was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard in his life and after he’d finished against the wall, he lowered her to the floor of the booth to make love to her all over again.

“I don’t understand why I can’t go with them, Mom, they invited me,” Whitney whined at her mother as she checked out the small amount of groceries they were buying for the week
.

For Zane’s fourteenth birthday Mr. Grier was going to take him to the beach and they’d invited her along. She hadn’t been to the beach ever and remembered being really jealous when Zane had gotten to go when they were younger. He’d tell her all about the ocean and finding sea shells with his mom. It sounded so amazing.

“We don’t accept charity from anyone, Whitney. One day we’ll have the money to go to the beach and I’ll take you myself.”

Her mother swiped the EBT card she’d gotten after her dad left. Not accepting charity but certainly accepting the government’s help instead of getting a real job.

“How are you going to get any money, Mother?” Whitney yelled. “Sleeping with men and asking for their cash isn’t a real job.” The woman checking them out dropped the eggs and chaos broke out. Her mother slapped her hard and gave her the worst look she’d ever seen.

“Go wait in the fucking car. You’re not going to the beach, and you’ll be lucky if you leave your room for the next three weeks.”

She was grounded, but as soon as her mom passed out from drinking she left. She had an older friend with his permit to come pick her up and went to a party at another older guy’s house. She tried coke for the first time at fourteen, while Zane was having fun at the beach with his dad.

Ninety days. She had to complete ninety days without failing to avoid jail. How was she going to stop using for ninety days? The court ordered her to go home, get her things, and get checked in immediately.

She didn’t want to, but she called her mom. It was unfortunate, but she was the only one who could take her to rehab. Hannah had left a message on her phone, letting her know she was fired for no call, no show. It wasn’t really a surprise to her. She didn’t call at all, even though she’d been capable many times.

“Honey, I would love to take you to rehab, but I have other things I have to do. I’m sorry.” Her mom hung up and that was that.

Tina was her only option. She called her and arranged for her to come get her in twenty minutes, then she threw everything she had into a bag and waited outside her house. One of her neighbors had found her face down on the sidewalk and called 911. That neighbor had probably saved her life, but she didn’t know which one it was.

Tina rolled up and honked the horn, even though she was right in front of her. She was going to some place called Blue River Care Home for Addicts. It was embarrassing, but better than being arrested as far as she could tell.

“You’re going to hate rehab, Whit. I don’t know why the hell you’re going.”

“Tina, I go to jail if I don’t go.”

“I guess that’s a good enough reason.”

Tina pulled up in front of the place, which was a lot bigger than Whitney had anticipated and patted her shoulder. “Good luck. Call me if you need some booze snuck in.”

Whitney walked into the front and was greeted by two very smiley individuals. A guy with dark brown hair and a little dirty blond that had a tight French braid.

“Welcome. We’re so glad you’re here.” The smiles never moved. They were like some creepy ventriloquist dolls. This was going to be a very long ninety days.

“Hey, hot stuff, I brought a sandwich for my little delinquent,” Lila yelled at him out the car window as he picked up trash off the side of the road. He was impossible to miss with his bright orange vest, which was good because people didn’t really mind the speed limit as they traveled through.

“Thanks, sweetie. I know this vest is turning you on,” he yelled back as he made his way over to her car to get in.

“I brought you chicken and there’s some fries.” She leaned over and kissed him, making a face from the sweat immediately.

“Sorry, it’s really hot out there. Where’s my chocolate milkshake?”

She punched him hard in the arm and laughed. Zane had been lucky they dropped the possession charge altogether. He’d only been sentenced with reckless driving and had to do community service. It sucked, but it beat jail completely.

“You ready to graduate?” Zane asked her. He found it ironic she was going to be a psychologist and wanted to focus on drugs. It was one of those bizarre coincidences that happened in life. She was graduating in May and they’d started talking about moving in together. They agreed that it was really soon in the relationship, but it just felt right.

“I’m ready. It kind of sucks that I won’t be able to be a wild college student anymore.”

“Yes, because you’re so wild.”

“I can be.” Lila frowned at him, and he nodded.

“Yes, I’m sorry, you can be. I’m being completely unfair. I forgot I was dealing with the wild and sexy roller rink girl.”

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to be a smart-ass.” Lila smirked at him, and he went back to his French fries, knowing he had like two hours of cleaning the road up left for the day.

When Whitney woke up she had soaked through her sheets with sweat. It had only been three days and she had been completely miserable without coke. They kept telling her she would feel better soon, but she didn’t seem to be able to get there. The withdrawals were hard. She was shaking, sweating, and she wanted to crawl out of her own skin.

“Boon.” Someone was in her room. “You can’t sleep in here all day, because if you do, then you’re not going to feel better. It’s time to get out. You have to get out and walk or do something.”

“I can’t get up, Callie.” She knew it was her therapist. At the River, which was what the residents called it, the therapist was responsible for every part of their treatment. That meant Callie was her constant companion.

“Yes, you can.” She came over and pulled all the sheets off Whitney, making her angry. Another thing she had to deal with was the mood swings. There were so many bad mood swings and it was hard for her to control her emotions from one minute to the next.

She sat up and glared at Callie, who pulled her up and went through her drawers, finding clothes she could wear. They all had the same gray sweatpants and shirts to wear so they wouldn’t be different from one another. The River stripped away your individuality so you didn’t get into cliques or end up passing judgment on others based on their appearance.

Some of the girls in the rehab with her found ways to stand out, ripping off sleeves, dying their hair with Kool-Aid they found in the cabinet and things they got into trouble for. Their cell phones didn’t work at the clinic, so if they wanted to make a phone call they had to leave the premises. If they left the premises, then they were automatically out of the rehab. You couldn’t leave the grounds or you were saying you were done with the place.

Callie led her to the bathroom and shoved her in. “Get a shower because you fucking stink and then meet me out here dressed and ready to go get some sun.”

“I hate you right now, Callie,” Whitney said but didn’t really have a choice, so she did what she said. Alternating hot and cold water didn’t work on withdrawals when you hadn’t had any in a while. She came out shivering and tried to get dressed quickly after drying off. She caught a glimpse of herself. They didn’t get makeup, only face wash and hairbrushes.

The Whitney looking back at her looked like shit. She had dark circles and sunken cheeks. This wasn’t what she thought she looked like. Had she looked like this the whole time she was using? She really needed a line. There was no way she could get anything in the stupid rehab. They were super strict on visitors. Maybe, just maybe she could sneak out and get someone to bring her some drugs. It was ballsy, but if she could pull it off she wouldn’t go to jail and she’d still get her fix. They didn’t drug test because they were so strict.